


Five Years Later

by elynne



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Based on RP events, Crossroads, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hunter angst, Hunter pet, Raptors, Tawaporah, pet death (not explicit), the Barrens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-23 14:43:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11404584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elynne/pseuds/elynne
Summary: Older and wearier, Khydann returns to the Barrens and is confronted by memories of her past. If she is to move on, she must put them to rest... somehow.





	Five Years Later

The long Barrens summer day was edging into evening as Khydann rode her wolf mount away from the gathering at the Crossroads, remembering.

She'd been to the Barrens many times over the years, of course--most recently less than a week ago, for the Midsummer celebration held at Crossroads. But she'd always been traveling through it, never staying for long. It was nearly five years since she'd even spent the night in the grassy plains.

Nearly five years since she had buried Tawaporah.

The unnamed raptor's nesting ground, close by the Stagnant Oasis, had been undisturbed by the Cataclysm that had broken the Barrens in half. It was where Tawaporah had been hatched, and where Khydann had first encountered the raptor. She thought of the "taming stick" she had been given by her trainer with a slight smile. She had heard that the elder hunters of Kalimdor weren't using them any more in teaching the next generations.

She dismounted the wolf, telling it to stay where it was and confident that it would obey, to climb the hill on hoof. She didn't head to the top of the hill, but to a crest overlooking the nesting grounds. Although the Cataclysm hadn't disturbed the hill, the passage of five seasons had worked to obscure the spot she sought, and it took her several minutes to locate the slight mound of dirt. Kneeling down beside it, she saw a stick half-buried in the dirt, wound with colored threads and decorated with feathers and beads. The taming stick was the only marker she had ever thought necessary, or sufficient.

Sitting back with a sigh, Khydann looked at the sky. The sun was completely obscured by the western hills, but there was still plenty of light flooding the Barrens, gradually fading to darkness. She could hear the raptors at the nesting grounds below, chattering to each other as they rustled about, preparing to bed down for the night. From her time with Tawaporah, Khydann knew that raptors weren't just simple animals. They decorated themselves with ornaments crafted by their own claws, slept in crude huts constructed from the material around them, and had a rudimentary language that could be learned with patience and practice. Tawaporah had been clever, quick to learn new commands and tricks, and insatiably curious. She hadn't been affectionate in the way mammals were, but she had cared for Khydann, and demonstrated it in the manner of her own species--preening the tauren's mane, bringing her choice tidbits from fresh kills, crooning to her quietly as they rested at night. The emerging stars wavered in Khydann's vision before she wiped her eyes.

"More time?" she murmured to herself. "It's been five years... how do I know how much time is enough? How do I... go on?" She looked at the taming stick, canted at a precarious angle, but made no move to straighten it. "I still miss you, Tawah. I haven't been able... no, that's not true. I haven't tried to tame another companion. Just thinking about it... feels almost like a betrayal of your memory. We grew up together, grew strong and learned from each other. How could I replace you?" She wiped her muzzle again and sniffed, watching a lone sunscale screecher patrolling the borders of the nesting grounds, alert for intruders. 

"I knew I would probably outlive you, but--it's one thing to know, another to have it happen and know it in your heart." She touched her chest, looking up at the stars. "Other hunters... some of them seem to have stables full of companions. Some seem to have a new companion once a week, and don't sound like they care what happened to the last one. Why can't I get past this?"

In the nests below her, there was a brief commotion that sounded like a squabble between adults. In the tumult she could just make out the sounds of a few nestlings, peeping stridently until they were quieted, probably by the return and comforting of their parents. Khydann half-smiled again, then furrowed her brow at a thought that seemed to grow in her mind. 

"I can never replace you," she said thoughtfully. "But I can honor you. I think... losing you has gotten tangled up in my head with all the other losses. Zekett, Bad Moon Rising, Rosh. I need a new beginning."

Khydann took a deep breath and stood up. "And I have an idea how to start, at least. Thank you, Tawah," she added, looking down at the slight mound under the dry Barrens grass. "I will never forget you. Dream well, my friend." With that, she turned away, to pick a careful path back down the hill to where her wolf waited patiently, under the brightening stars.


End file.
